Ido Arad
Conductor
German-based Israeli conductor Ido Arad is distinguished by his clarity of interpretation, technical precision and the impelling energy of his music.
Highlights of the current season include his return to the Deutsche Oper Berlin (LA TRAVIATA / THE MAGIC FLUTE) and the Teatro Massimo Palermo (THE NUTCRACKER). He conducts several projects in Israel as well as a highly anticipated production of Stravinsky’s THE RITE OF SPRING and PETRUSHKA (choreographed by Pina Bausch and Marco Goecke) at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden (Staatsballett Berlin). In the 2023/24 season he makes his debut at the Vienna Volksoper and returns to the Berlin Staatsoper for a revival production of THE BARBER OF SEVILLE.
2022 saw his debuts at the Teatro Massimo Palermo (Prokofiev’s ROMÉO ET JULIETTE), as well as at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, with the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra and Klagenfurt’s Kärtner Sinfonieorchester (symphonic programmes). Earlier in the season he returned to Israel as well as to Salzburg with the Mozarteumorchester for concerts. At home in Berlin, he conducted a new production of SLEEPING BEAUTY (Staatsballett / Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper). Recent seasons included engagements at the Semperoper Dresden with Mozart’s LE NOZZE DI FIGARO and at the Salzburger Landestheater with a new production of Weber’s OBERON. He conducted performances of GISELLE, SLEEPING BEAUTY, ONEGIN and THE NUTCRACKER and Prokofiev’s ROMÉO ET JULIETTE with the Staatsballett Berlin as well as concerts with the Philharmonisches Orchester Cottbus and Südwestfalen Philharmonic.
“The
Staatskapelle Berlin also performed in a reduced setting and conductor Ido Arad
delivered a very convincing, transparent, muscular interpretation of Adolphe
Adam’s music that was a mix of fragile or sensational in all the right places.”
(RBB Kultur, GISELLE with Staatskapelle Berlin, Oct 2020)
Ido
Arad held the position of Kapellmeister and Assistant to the General Music
Director (Sir Donald Runnicles) at the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 2016 to 2018, where he conducted
productions of Bizet’s CARMEN, Mozart’s DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE, Rossini’s IL
BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA, Verdi’s UN BALLO IN MASCHERA, DON CARLO and LA
TRAVIATA, as well as Meyerbeer’s LES HUGUENOTS. His debut at the Deutsche
Oper Berlin dates back to 2015, when he stepped in at short notice for
Tchaikovsky’s EUGENE ONEGIN.
Prior to that, Ido Arad held permanent positions at the Mittelsächsische Theater Freiberg and Stadttheater Bremerhaven, where he was the First Kapellmeister and Deputy General Music Director. During this period he conducted productions including TANNHÄUSER, EUGENE ONEGIN, DON CARLO, LA BOHÈME, RUSALKA, L’ELISIR D’AMORE, as well as a number of symphonic programmes.
Guest engagements have also taken him to Theater Münster, Theater Freiburg, and to the Anhaltische Theater Dessau. He conducted a new production of Richard Strauss’ SALOME staged by Brigitte Fassbaender at Theater Regensburg in 2017. In his formative years, Mr Arad collaborated with Asher Fisch, whom he assisted on a production of SALOME at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich during the 2013-14 season, and later on TRISTAN UND ISOLDE in concert with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in Perth and on Richard Strauss’ CAPRICCIO at Teatro Real in Madrid.
“Under the musical direction of Ido Arad, the
Mozarteumorchester begins the evening with a jubilant overture. Flattering,
evocative, never too pompous or too strict, the instrumental sounds blend well
with the action on stage in this chamber of fantasy.”
Das Opernglas
(OBERON, Salzburger Landestheater, Nov 2019)
(OBERON, Salzburger Landestheater, Nov 2019)
Prior to that, Ido Arad held permanent positions at the Mittelsächsische Theater Freiberg and Stadttheater Bremerhaven, where he was the First Kapellmeister and Deputy General Music Director. During this period he conducted productions including TANNHÄUSER, EUGENE ONEGIN, DON CARLO, LA BOHÈME, RUSALKA, L’ELISIR D’AMORE, as well as a number of symphonic programmes.
Guest engagements have also taken him to Theater Münster, Theater Freiburg, and to the Anhaltische Theater Dessau. He conducted a new production of Richard Strauss’ SALOME staged by Brigitte Fassbaender at Theater Regensburg in 2017. In his formative years, Mr Arad collaborated with Asher Fisch, whom he assisted on a production of SALOME at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich during the 2013-14 season, and later on TRISTAN UND ISOLDE in concert with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in Perth and on Richard Strauss’ CAPRICCIO at Teatro Real in Madrid.
Ido Arad was born in Florida (USA) and raised in Tel Aviv (Israel). He studied classical guitar at the Robert-Schumann-Musikhochschule Düsseldorf and conducting with Prof. Lutz Köhler at the Universität der Künste Berlin.
“The music performed by the orchestra of
the Deutsche Oper Berlin under the baton of Ido Arad is brilliant and full of
energy, expanding the score’s full palette of colour.”
Danses avec la plume
(ROMÉO ET JULIETTE, ballet, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Oct 2018)
Danses avec la plume
(ROMÉO ET JULIETTE, ballet, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Oct 2018)
︎ Simon Pauly